by Vaughn, Ann
He sighed and in a move she'd seen Riley do a million times, rubbed his hand on the back of his neck, brow wrinkled in frustration. She saw that, while he wasn't Riley's biological son, he was still Riley's son nonetheless.
"OK, but...do I have to tell her now?"
"Let me see how he responds to me, then we'll make that decision. How's that?"
"Yeah, OK."
She gave his shoulder a squeeze then got up to go into one of the bedrooms to send the text to Wade. While she held her phone waiting for a reply from him, it began ringing. The number came up from her office so she figured Kacee had gone in.
"Hello?"
"I've missed you, Miss Lainey," Conroy's voice sounded, making her blood run cold.
"Charles?" she gasped.
"Finally figured it out, did you?"
"Why are you in my office?" she asked.
"That Soldier Boy took you away from your house and since I fought with that lady cop, you haven't come back here. I need to see you."
"How did you get past the security?"
"The storm has knocked the power out."
"But not the phones?" she asked.
"Apparently not."
"Charles...why are you doing this? You were a Marine. You are a protector. What you're doing now...you're scaring me. Is that what you want? For me to be afraid of you?"
"No. I love you."
"Then you have to stop this, Charles. You've made me scared to even step out of my own house. I shouldn't have to live in fear of someone who says they love me."
"I would never hurt you. You...you're the only one who ever..."
"Charles, listen to me. You've done research on me. You know that my father is the police chief. Just go to the police station and ask for him and turn yourself in."
"I can't go back to jail, Miss Lainey. I won't."
"Charles..."
"Minchia!" Mike growled from the doorway, reaching for the phone.
Lainey jerked away from him, holding her hand up to keep him at bay.
"Soldier Boy's back, is he?" Charles spat out.
"Give me the phone, Lainey," Mike said, his voice soft.
"Charles, you have to listen to me, OK? Just go up to the station and ask for Gavin Riley. You turn yourself in and I will see about arranging counseling sessions with you."
"Bullshit," she heard Riley say behind her. Turning toward him, she sent him a sharp glare, gesturing for him to keep quiet.
"Where is he, cara?" Mike asked.
She gestured for his phone and typed in where Conroy was into a text box for him, and explained the security system was knocked out due to a storm then handed it back to him. Riley read over his shoulder then she heard him step out into the hall and call for Colt.
"I can't do that, Miss Lainey. I can't go back to jail, not even for you."
"Charles...what outcome do you foresee? You say you don't want to hurt me but you've threatened my friends and you hurt Tessa. Even if I were to come to you, you would have to face the consequences of your actions."
"I will not go back to jail."
In the hall, Riley was on the phone with her dad so she knew the police would be there in a matter of minutes.
"Listen to me, Charles. Just turn yourself in. I will come see you then. But you have to put a stop to all of this."
"I can't. Thank you for talking to me, Miss Lainey. I have to go now, but I'll see you soon."
"Charles...Charles!" She shook her head at Mike and dropped the phone on the bed, her whole body beginning to tremble.
Mike squat down on his haunches, getting eye level with her, taking her hands into his, placing a kiss to them.
"Look at me," he said softly. When she didn't immediately comply, he cupped her chin in his hand. "One of these days, you'll learn to listen to me the first time. Look. At. Me." When she raised her eyes to meet his gaze, he gave her hand a squeeze. "You did really good, cara mia."
She shook her head. "This isn't going to end well, Mike," she whispered. "He said several times, he won't go back to jail."
"We'll take care of him. He will not hurt you."
She licked her lips, then pressed them closed a moment before speaking.
"I'm not worried about me...he was a good man, Mike. He was. He was a Marine."
He reached up, wiped a tear from her cheek with his thumb.
"I will do everything in my power to take him into custody so he can get the help he needs. We won't let him continue to struggle if we can help it."
Her eyes lifted to see Riley and Colt behind him.
"He could be any one of you. I can't...what if Jack or Trevor or Aaron is injured like Charles was?"
"Well, for one, Aaron's a lawyer. What's he gonna get? A papercut?" Riley joked, succeeding in making her smile.
"All right, not Aaron, but definitely Trevor, possibly Jack."
"Jack's tour is up next month and he's not re-upping, you know that. He's moving back home to work at Orion with us. But I get what you're saying. Like Mike said, we will do our best to bring him in safely. That's all we can do, Tink."
She nodded, but her eyes were huge. Mike stood and helped her to her feet, wrapping her up in his arms, kissing the top of her head. Lainey didn't hesitate. She burrowed into his chest, clinging to him. She heard him say something low to Riley and Colt and then heard the door shut when they left the room. Mike lifted her into his arms and then sat on the edge of the bed, cradling her in his lap, just stroking her hair and occasionally placing a kiss to the side of her head. She drew in close to him, placing her ear over his heart, taking comfort from it's strong, steady beat. Tears that she'd been holding back started and when he tightened his hold on her, she let them go. For the second time since all this started, she sat cradled in Mike Casiano's lap, crying her eyes out...and for the second time, he held her close and held her tight and let her fall apart in the safety and comfort of his arms.
This time, however, she didn't pull herself together and leave his arms. This time, when the tears subsided, and she was left a shattered mess, his big, warm hand smoothed over her cheek. His other hand brushed her hair away from her face and he leaned down to touch his lips to hers...and this time, Lainey turned so that she was straddling him, and she buried her hands in his hair and turned her full attention to kissing this man who both infuriated her and fascinated her like no other ever had. This man who had given so much to so many, from sacrificing himself so that a widow had a body to bury and her cousin had a life to continue living so that he could be the saving grace to a single mother and her son, to buying a nice home for the only member of his unit who was married so that the rest of the team had a place away from the base to unwind to continuing to take care of that friend's widow all these years later. Mike gave to everyone and asked very little in return, and she wanted to change that. She wanted to give him everything.
"Mike," she whispered against his lips.
"Lo so, bambina," he replied, pressing his forehead to hers, hands stroking her face, wiping her remaining tears away.
"What does that mean?" she asked, though she knew well enough.
"I know, baby girl...I want you...but not with a house full of our friends and family."
"I know," she replied, "are you sure we can't just run to your house in Tuscany? I don't want to go back home. I don't want to be the cause of such a lost soul's death."
"I won't kill him," he vowed.
"He won't leave you a choice," she said sadly.
"We'll see," he replied.
Chapter Seventeen
Lainey tightened her hold on him when he made a move to disentangle himself from her. For a moment, he sat, hands roaming her back, then he again tried to lift her from his lap.
"Lainey," he began but she shook her head.
"Stay with me," she whispered.
"Bambina," he began but she put her hand on his cheek and raised her head to meet his lips. He groaned and returned her kiss for a bit, then pulled back, touching his forehea
d to hers. "This isn't like when I stayed with you before. I'm not strong enough to just sleep."
She traced her lips along the scar on his jaw, working toward his ear. "I don't want you to just sleep, Commander."
He smiled and her heart stopped. That smile up close was devastating.
"I'd like nothing better...but not with your cousin just across the hall."
"At this rate, there's always going to be someone in the house with us," she said, tracing her tongue along the shell of his ear. "Stay with me, Commander. Today has been...wonderful...we aren't home. We don't have to worry about Conroy again until tomorrow."
"Lainey," he groaned.
"Stay with me, Michael."
He took a deep breath. "All right. I'll stay."
He turned then and she quickly found herself on her back, pressed to the mattress underneath his weight. His mouth slammed down on hers, his hands exploring her curves. She gloried in the feel of him over her. He was so much bigger than her; all she could see was him when he raised his head to look down at her.
"Cosi bella," he whispered reverently, brushing his hand over her hair.
She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling him down to kiss her again. Her hands buried themselves in his hair, holding him close as he kissed her so tenderly she wanted it to never end. She trailed her hands down his back to his muscular butt, giving him a firm squeeze before reaching up to pull his shirt from his pants. She was just reaching down to let her hands explore underneath his shirt when he captured her wrists in one hand and raised them above her head, pinning them in the vise-like grip of his hand.
"Let me touch you," she said against his lips.
"No," he replied, his free hand kneading her left breast through her shirt.
"Mike," she protested, trying to free her hands.
"Be still, cara mia, or I'll get up and leave the room," he warned.
"But..."
"Do not move," he ordered, his voice low and smooth as silk, "disobey me and your punishment is I leave."
"My punishment?" she asked, nipping at his lower lip.
"Yes, ma'am. I give an order I expect it to be obeyed without question. Consequences for disobedience will be immediate and severe."
Her eyes widened as she looked up at him, the fight completely leaving her body. He smiled, dipping his head down to kiss the hollow of her throat. She shivered and his hold on his hands tightened.
"Tacere," he warned. When she immediately stilled, he raised his head, eyes narrowing, "Capisci quello che sto dicendo?"
Lainey realized her mistake. When he'd told her to be still in Italian and she immediately obeyed, she'd tipped him off. He asked if she understood what he was saying.
"What?" she asked, hoping she'd at least thrown him off for a moment.
Mike knew she was trying to cover up the fact that she could understand Italian. He realized he should have known before now that she'd be able to speak and understand it; she'd grown up with the Adtkissons. He began telling her, in great detail, exactly what he'd like to do to her, from kissing her breasts to tasting her in every way and delighted in watching her try not to react to anything he said.
"Shall I trail my hand down your body, into your pants? Feel your curls between my fingers? Are you wet for me, baby?" he said to her, all in Italian, his lips skimming her ear, her cheek, her lips.
Lainey was going to die. She knew it. They didn't have to worry about Charles Conroy, because Commander Michael Casiano was going to do her in right there in Melissa's guest bedroom. She was shivering and trembling and she couldn't let on that she understood every delicious word that he'd said to her. She was aching to touch him but she didn't dare try to free her hands for fear of him following through on his threat to leave the room.
"I'm going to let go of your wrists," he told her in English, "but you leave those hands right where they are, am I clear?"
"Yes, sir," she breathed a little mockingly, brow arched in challenge to him.
His smile broadened, "Yes, sir," he echoed, "I like that," he said, his tongue tracing the shell of her ear.
"Mike," she whimpered, feeling goose bumps erupt all over when he released her wrists so that both hands could lift her shirt and he moved down to skim his lips over her stomach and ribs. She wanted to touch him. She wanted her hands in his hair. She wanted...
"Lainey," he said, his voice firm.
"What?"
"Hands," he said and she realized she'd lowered her hands from where he'd placed them above her head.
"Mike, please," she gasped.
"Uh-uh. Reach behind you and hold on to the headboard. Do not let go. I won't warn you again. You let go, I'll stop whatever I'm doing, get up and leave. Am I clear?"
"Mike," she pleaded.
"Am. I. Clear?"
"Yes, sir," she replied.
"Do it now," he ordered.
Frustrated, she lifted her hands and wrapped them around the bars of the wrought iron headboard.
"Brava," he told her. Good girl. Lainey sighed and closed her eyes when his lips returned to her stomach. He kissed a burning trail down to the waistband of her jeans, then to her surprise, he tugged her button free and pulled the zipper down, and then his hand did just as he'd teased her with, sliding inside her pants to seek her center.
"Mike," she gasped when his fingers began a slow, sensual massage.
"Shh, bellisima," he said, one finger sliding in to stroke her deep.
"Oh, God," she cried, her hands tightening on the headboard.
He stroked her slowly for several long moments, then let a second finger join the first. Lainey clenched her teeth to keep from crying out, but it was hard, especially when his fingers began pushing into her in a stronger, faster rhythm. When she began whimpering, he slid back up, sealing his lips over hers to absorb her cries.
"Please, Mike...oh, God...Mike," she panted against his lips.
"That's it, cara mia, ride it out."
"Please...can I touch you? Mike..."
"Leave your hands where they are," he commanded, his hand moving faster and harder, until he felt her muscles gripping his fingers and she was crying her release.
"Mike," she gasped, feeling herself shatter in his hands. She whimpered when he withdrew his fingers. He brought his hand up to her lips, trailing the tips over her lips.
"Open," he ordered, then pushed his fingers slowly into her mouth when she obeyed. "Lick them clean, cara, see how good you taste."
She locked gazes with him as she licked and sucked on his fingers, ignoring her taste and concentrating on his. When he pulled his fingers away, he leaned down to claim her mouth, licking her lips before sinking into the kiss.
"Please...let me touch you," she panted when he pulled back from the kiss.
He ran his nose along hers, then kissed her again.
"You did very well, cara mia," he praised her, "you can let go now."
She immediately released the headboard and twined her arms around his neck, fingers sinking into his hair. Mike wrapped his arms around her and turned them so that they were on their sides facing each other.
"Why wouldn't you let me touch you?" she whispered after a time.
"I wanted you to do as I said for once," he said, making her smile.
"I suppose I don't listen enough for your liking, do I, Commander?"
"No. You don't."
"I need to change clothes. Will you stay with me, all night?"
He kissed her forehead, then cupped her chin in his hand, forcing her to meet his gaze.
"I said I would, didn't I?"
"Yes."
"If I tell you I'm going to do something, then I'm going to do it. Don't question me when I've already given you the answer, capisce?"
"Yes, sir...but Mike?"
"Yes?"
"Don't expect me to say 'Yes, sir' to you outside of the bedroom."
He chuckled. "I'm surprised you said it at all, but I have to admit, I like it," he said, watching her get up and
go into the bathroom.
Knowing he was asking for trouble staying in the same room with her, Mike rolled to his back and stared up at the ceiling. He hadn't really meant to make her keep her hands off of him, but she'd been close to raising his shirt and he wasn't sure he was ready for her to see his scars just yet. She would. Soon. No way he was going to put off claiming her much longer. It was killing him now not to be able to lose himself in the comfort of her arms and her body. Ten years was a long time to go without being with a woman. While he hadn't really cared before, now it was sitting on him like a huge elephant.
A knock on the door drew him from his thoughts. He glanced toward the door to the bathroom then got up to answer the door, taking a moment to smooth his hands over his hair.
"Lainey, I..." Riley began but stopped when he saw Mike at the door.
"What did you need?" he asked.
"You staying in here with her?" Riley asked.
"Just to sleep, man."
Riley nodded. "OK...I was just bringing her bag to her. Want me to grab yours?"
"If you don't mind. I promised her I wouldn't leave...she's still upset about that phone call."
"I understand. I'll grab your bag and be back."
"Riley...?"
"It's cool, man, don't sweat it. Be back."
Lainey came out of the bathroom just as Mike shut the door, wearing just her T-Shirt...her very short T-Shirt.
"Riley brought your bag," he said, handing it to her.
"Oh, good. I'll just go back in and change."
"Stay in there until I knock on the door. He's coming back with my bag. He said he's cool with me being here, but no need to add fuel to the fire by him seeing you half dressed in the bed."
She smiled. "OK, Commander, whatever you say."
When Riley came back, he handed Mike his bag and bid him goodnight without staying to chat, for which Mike was grateful. He quickly changed into his sweats and Navy tee then knocked on the bathroom door to let her know she could come out. When she came out wearing the same Navy tee he'd seen her in before, he had to clench his teeth to keep his libido under control. She really was beautiful.
"How was Riley about you being in here?"
"Fine," he replied.
